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Platform workers earn $1T+ annually but remain invisible to banks. This is the story of the gap they fell into—and how we're building the bridge out.
1.6 billion people now earn income from Upwork, Shopify, YouTube, and thousands of other platforms—borderlessly. Then AI turbocharged it: 68% of small businesses adopted AI in 2025. A new economy emerged.
While the new economy boomed, the financial system remained stuck in the past. Banks couldn't verify income, and fintechs hit structural walls.
Platform income is more verifiable than traditional employment—Shopify sees every sale—yet banks won't accept it. They require W-2s that don't exist for the new economy.
Platform lenders like Shopify Capital filled part of the gap by controlling payment rails. It works—merchants funded see 36% higher growth . But they're invite-only and gatekept.
Standalone lenders (Clearco, Wayflyer) faced challenges due to high capital costs and lack of control over payment rails. Unlike platform lenders, they cannot auto-deduct repayment from every sale, increasing risk.
Embedded lenders succeed by controlling the cash flow. Standalone lenders struggle without that leverage. To build a truly open credit system, we need a new mechanism to ensure repayment: Social Trust.
Three pieces of infrastructure reached maturity simultaneously:
$305B supply, $28T transferred in 2024—more than Visa and Mastercard combined. 80% lower costs than traditional rails.
Maple Finance grew 1,600% to $562M. Goldfinch financed $110M across 20+ countries. Blockchain settlement works.
Farcaster: 500K+ users with wallet-based identity and open social graphs. Bluesky: 20M+ users with domain verification. For the first time, we can quantify social trust at scale without centralized gatekeepers.
Borrowers repay not because we control their bank account, but because defaulting destroys their social capital.
[1] DemandSage: Gig Economy Statistics 2025
[5] PaymentsCMI: Stablecoin Market Data
[22] BVNK: Stablecoin Cost Savings
[27] Reflexivity Research: Maple Finance Growth
[28] CoinGecko: Goldfinch Emerging Markets
[35] Shopify: Capital Effect on Growth
[37] BetaKit: Clearco Restructuring
[40] Uncapped Discontinues RBF
[41] HBS: RBF Moral Hazard Study (2023)